Nebraska’s Ben Sasse was one of 6 Republican who joined all 50 Democrats Tuesday as the U-S Senate said the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump is constitutional, moving the proceeding to actual arguments Wednesday.
Lead defense attorney Bruce Castor Jr, in his 47-minute speech, called out Sasse by name – saying he has faced backlash for supporting impeachment.
Castor also described Nebraska as “quite a judicial thinking place” and said Sasse “faces the whirlwind even though he knows what the judiciary in his state thinks.”
A press pool report from the Senate chambers said Sasse appeared “befuddled by Castor’s Nebraska riff.”
A number of Republican senators and leaders were critical of Castor’s presentation with some saying candidly that that the Democratic House members were more effective in presenting their case.
One of those was Joe Neguse of Colorado, who took direct aim at Republican claims that impeachment after leaving office is unconstitutional and unprecedented.
Neguse walked the senators through the impeachments of Senator William Blount in 1797 and Secretary of War William Belknap in 1876, both after they were no longer in office.